SEATTLE — Shortly before he died, longtime King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng was leading the effort to find a replacement for fired U.S. Attorney John McKay.
Maleng’s top choice was someone he had known for decades — one of McKay’s top deputies, Jeff Sullivan — and he told that to Robert Lasnik, the chief U.S. District Court judge in Western Washington.
Lasnik agreed that Sullivan would be a fine choice, and on Friday, he said he was honoring Maleng’s memory as he swore Sullivan in as the Justice Department’s top lawyer in Western Washington.
“You all know about what led to this,” Lasnik said, referring to the purge of nine U.S. attorneys around the country — a controversy that helped bring about the downfall of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. “But the consistency we have had in this office … is something we in the judiciary appreciate tremendously.”
John McKay and his brother, Mike, both former U.S. attorneys, were among the supporters, relatives and friends who packed a courtroom for the ceremony — as were Maleng’s widow, Judy, and son, Mark. Maleng died of cardiac arrest in May.
Sullivan, 64, served as the elected prosecutor in Yakima County from 1975 to 2002, when he joined the U.S. attorney’s office as chief deputy overseeing all criminal cases filed by the office. After the Bush administration forced McKay to resign early this year, Sullivan replaced him on an interim basis. But the White House has not forwarded a nominee to the Senate for confirmation, and Sullivan’s interim appointment expired on Friday — meaning responsibility for naming a new U.S. attorney fell to the federal judges, who unanimously agreed to keep Sullivan in the post.
In a short speech, Sullivan thanked the judges for the trust they had placed in him.
“I guarantee to you I will do everything possible not to let you down,” he said.
He also thanked John McKay, whom he called a phenomenal person, lawyer and U.S. attorney, and he said he hoped to do half the job McKay did in the office.
The ceremony itself featured a few bumps. After an apparently nervous Sullivan stumbled over the words, Lasnik told him, “Let’s start over again.”
“Ready, take two,” Lasnik said. “I, state your name.”
“Jeffrey C. Sullivan,” he replied.
“No, you say ‘I,”’ the judge said.
The audience let out a good-natured laugh, and Sullivan’s grown children praised him afterward.
“He’s a true public servant,” said Jeff Sullivan Jr. “He does it because he cares. He does it because he likes putting bad guys away.”
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